Evaluation Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Hardware

The process of filming our opening sequence for this task required us to use hardware such as a Canon XH A1 camera and torches for lighting. Using the camera during this task has helped me to learn about the important film techniques and the requirements of using a camera when producing a piece of media.
From this task I learnt how to appropriately set up a camera during shooting. When setting up the camera for a shot we first adjusted the tripod to the appropriate height for the shot, we then checked that the spirit levels were accurate for a level shot. Lastly, we attached the camera to the tripod making sure that it was placed securely on top to prevent it from dropping accidentally. We had to do this every time when shooting a new shot in order to make the shot look good and also professional.

In class we were taught about the film techniques and had to put to them use when creating our opening sequence, one of the main film techniques that we had to acknowledge and incorporate into our filming was continuity. Continuity is the unbroken and consistent existence or operation of something over time. An example of this during our filming was our shots in the nursery room, we had to make sure that the lighting, props and positioning of the actors were consistent. This means making sure everything is the same in each shot, this prevented a lack of professionalism if something is out of place in two shots, like if an actor is holding his gun with his right hand but is then holding it with his left hand in the next shot.
Another filming technique is that we used was the rule of thirds, this is a concept in video/film production where the frame is divided into 9 sections as shown in the picture on the right.
Important elements should be placed on the intersections or along the lines of these guidelines to make the shot more interesting than just placing the element in the middle.
Match on action is another filming technique we learnt and had to pay attention to during filming, match on action means that when something happens in a scene and there is a cut the action must be still going on. Doing this helps the audience continually understand what is going on, this is an example of continuity editing.
Other filming techniques I had learnt and had to abide by when shooting were: framing, action/reaction shots, total shots, safety shots, different angles and the 180 degree rule to name a few.

Software

Adobe Premiere was the editing software that we used, this is were we edited and assembled our shots and also added sound and music.
Before editing our own work we did a task where we edited a different scene, this was done to help us learn the basic tools in Premiere such as cutting clips or moving clips and how to add things to the timeline. During the editing of our opening sequence I had learnt many more important editing techniques that will help me in the future.



One of the editing techniques that I had learnt when editing was how to manipulate the brightness and contrast of shots, this helped in making bright shots in the daylight look dark, fitting along with the dark atmosphere and tone of the opening sequence.
I also learnt how to fade into black or fade out of black in video, this transition helped to set the pace and create a dreary tone.
Other editing techniques I had learnt was: how to edit the volume of sound clips, how to overlap video, how to create titles and how to make them move across the screen.


The key lessons I have learnt from using the hardware and software that we were provided with was to be precise and composed when editing and handling the camera, as well as to be patient and to take time when editing and shooting in order to make our opening sequence look professional.